Soldering from the hip

You can be the Sheriff around these parts, but only if you have a solder gun and holster to boot. [Mikasaurus’] latest build is certainly fun, even if it’s not so practical. We’re not giving up our Weller knock-off any time soon, but this quick-heat repackage will certainly be a conversation starter at your next Hackerspace event.

The business end of the build is taken from a cheap four-battery soldering iron. [Mike] separated each of the components, then grabbed a toy gun to see where each of them might fit. The batteries are just the right size to fit into the gun’s magazine. All he had to do to make that happen is add contacts to the gun and springs to the magazine. A momentary push switch was positioned behind the trigger and used to connect the battery pack to the solder tip.

After the break you’ll find a little over-the-top modeling, and some solder melting. This will go great with that 9mm Bluetooth headset you built. Just don’t stick the wrong one in your ear.

Nice novelty hack, but unless you have the gun in the junk box & somebody gives you the RS part, too expensive for something that will see little use. Too big for a on the go tool kit. Besides I don’t know many who prefer a pistol grip style over a pencil style low wattage soldering tool.